How Did Utah Do On Wallet Hub’s List Of Best Small Cities?
I grew up in a small town but in a unique situation. My small town was in the mountains above San Bernardino, California, so even though I lived in a small town, I was only about twenty minutes away from the urban lifestyle. I was never particularly attracted to the urban lifestyle.
Big city life isn't for everyone. Noise, traffic, crime, congestion all can take its toll and prove to be overwhelming. That's why we are seeing many people make the choice to move to a smaller city or a big town. Smaller cities, or bigger towns often have all the conveniences we need with out the big city headaches.
Utah does have a couple of big cities, but a lot of our state is comprised of smaller cities and big towns. And many of those areas are gaining recognition in a recent Wallet Hub report of the Best Small Cities in America.
According to that report, nearly a third of Americans (31%) would prefer to live in a suburban setting. 24% would choose to live in a rural setting. Only 16% in the study indicated a preference to living in an urban setting.
The criteria Wallet Hub used included affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life and safety.
The Wallet Hub survey was limited to 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000. Several Wasatch front suburban communities, along with Logan in the Cache Valley made the list. Oh, and the three population centers here in southern Utah also made the list.
Since the sample of cities ranked in the report was a large number, Wallet Hub grouped cities by percentile. Those in the 99th percentile were considered in the top one percent of small cities in the United States.
In that 99th percentile, Carmel Indiana had the highest total score.
So, how did Utah do? We actually had one entry in the 99th percentile, but it wasn't here in southern Utah. It was Kaysville, the bedroom community on the border of Davis and Weber counties.
Here in the southern part of the state, the city the landed in the highest percentile was St. George showing up in the 83rd percentile with a total score of 63.31. Next was Washington in the 80th percentile with a total score of 62.74.
Cedar City completed southern Utah's mention in this listing of best small cities by placing in the 69th percentile with a total score of 60.8.
So, if the big city life is not your forte, you may have indeed found a place that will be complimentary to the lifestyle you prefer.